World number one Judd Trump and Mark Allen, ranked third, won their first-round ties.
Trump showed the fine form which has seen him win the Shanghai Masters and Saudi Arabia Masters this season as he saw off Robert Milkins 4-1 in just 50 minutes.
A break of 104, the 999th century of his career, put him 1-0 ahead and he followed that up with an 81 in the next to lead 2-0.
Milkins replied with a 62 to reduce his deficit, but Trump responded with runs of 74 and 81 to progress, the latter break comprising 11 reds and 10 blacks before he broke down.
Allen came through a hard-fought encounter with Gary Wilson, the world number three from Northern Ireland triumphing 4-3 to book a meeting with Aaron Hill in the second round, the Irishman having beaten Ding Junhui 4-3.
Allen, the 2022 runner-up, took the first two frames against the 2021 losing finalist but breaks of 78 and 50 helped Wilson draw level, before Allen won a drawn-out fifth, which lasted almost an hour.
A run of 97 drew the Englishman level but Allen came out on top in the decider to advance to round two.
World champion Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are among the other players in action later on Monday.